North Melbourne are "hopeful" senior coach Alastair Clarkson could arrive at Arden Street for the beginning of his tenure on November 1 as the AFL continues to investigate the harrowing allegations against the premiership coach and other former Hawthorn key figures.
Clarkson, along with Brisbane senior coach Chris Fagan and former Hawthorn development manager Jason Burt, has stood aside from his duties to aid the AFL's investigation, which is likely to run close to the new year.
The trio face an uncertain future given the damning claims made against them for their time at Waverley, with Clarkson's start to his stint as the Kangaroos' senior coach facing a delay.
"Ready to defend" themselves, the trio are still awaiting further processes before further helping with the investigation.
Ahead of a trip to Scotland to meet with Celtic coach Ange Postecoglou, Clarkson toldย 7 Newsย he is waiting to hear from the AFL.
โI'll be going to do a professional development trip overseas and just relying on the AFL to let us know what's going on with the investigation,โ the former Hawthorn coach said.
โWe've said all along, Fages, Jason, myself, ready to defend ourselves at the earliest opportunity.โ
Clarkson was appointed as North Melbourne's new senior coach in August on a five-year deal, with his tenure scheduled to commence from November.
Nearing a month since the shock allegations from former First Nations players at Hawthorn emerged, the Roos are "hopeful" Clarkson can begin his work as initially scheduled.
โWe're hopeful he'll start on November 1, subject to the terms of reference and his ability to participate in the process,โ Kangaroos president Sonja Hood told 7 News.
โWe've seen a draft process but we haven't got much line of sight over what the process is.โ
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has left the country, as the Roos seek to have Clarkson start within a fortnight. @cleary_mitch with the exclusive details. https://t.co/5zYfOfGqUb @7AFL #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/nc5rNQ9Kco
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) October 14, 2022
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan is also in line to potentially return to his commitments with the Lions in the coming weeks.
The AFL announced its four-person panel for the independent investigation earlier this month, with findings from their report to be made public as early as December.
